Less is More

I had a strange convergence of events this week. I have been working closely with a client during the requirements phase of a big, complex project that could easily evolve into “more is more” if we’re not careful. I am reading ReWork by Jason Fried, which is just an interesting little collection of one or two page thoughts on how to work smarter and be more productive. On page 83, there’s a segment titled “Throw Less at the Problem.” Inspiring and counter-intuitive! But here’s the convergence topper!

I was watching Jimmy Fallon’s talk show. His guest was Jerry Weintraub who, among other things, supposedly managed Elvis Presley’s road show engagements for a while. He told a great anecdote on the show, which I will try to summarize:

He said he booked Elvis at an afternoon gig in Miami in July. According to Jerry, Elvis had two key requirements for his performances:

there need to be women in the front rows of the audience (duh)

the venue has to be full

Jerry booked an 10,000 seat arena for the show. He called to check on ticket sales and was told by the local promoter that the show had sold out. When Jerry got there the day of the show, the promoter fessed up and said they really had only sold 5,000 seats and that he lied about the sales because he thought that’s what Jerry wanted to hear. Who wants to go to an indoor concert in the middle of a July afternoon in Miami?? So Jerry had to sell 5,000 seats in a few hours to make sure the arena was full for Elvis’ concert. Or did he???

He said he hired a few local workers and removed 5,000 seats from the arena! Brilliant! Elvis was very happy with the “sellout” for the show.

So next time, before you throw more resources, money, time and effort at a problem, consider what you might take away instead… Who knows what you might come up with!